Dow Today: Alcoa (AA) Higher

Editor's Note: TheStreet ratings do not represent the views of TheStreet's staff or its contributors. Ratings are established by computer based on metrics for performance (which includes growth, stock performance, efficiency and valuation) and risk (volatility and solvency). Companies with poor cash flow or high debt levels tend to earn lower ratings in our model.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ( ^DJI) is trading up 172 points (+1.2%) at 15,003 as of Friday, May 3, 2013, 10:35 a.m. ET. During this time, 140.6 million shares of the 30 Dow components have changed hands vs. an average daily trading volume of 602.3 million. The NYSE advances/declines ratio sits at 2,342 issues advancing vs. 507 declining with 113 unchanged.

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The Dow component leading the way higher looks to be Alcoa (NYSE: AA), which is sporting a 22-cent gain (+2.6%) bringing the stock to $8.68. This single gain is lifting the Dow Jones Industrial Average by 1.67 points or roughly accounting for 1% of the Dow's overall gain. Volume for Alcoa currently sits at seven million shares traded vs. an average daily trading volume of 18.8 million shares.

Alcoa has a market cap of $9.02 billion and is part of the basic materials sector and metals & mining industry. Shares are down 2.5% year to date as of Thursday's close. The stock's dividend yield sits at 1.4%.

Alcoa Inc. engages in the production and management of primary aluminum, fabricated aluminum, and alumina. The company operates in four segments: Alumina, Primary Metals, Global Rolled Products, and Engineered Products and Solutions. The company has a P/E ratio of 38.3, above the S&P 500 P/E ratio of 17.7.

TheStreet Ratings rates Alcoa as a buy. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its increase in net income, good cash flow from operations and growth in earnings per share. We feel these strengths outweigh the fact that the company has had lackluster performance in the stock itself.